From robots that clean your house to those that scour war zones for potential threats, the robots made by Bedford-based company iRobot have surprising capabilities.

Local students had the opportunity Sunday to test-drive some of these robots at a free program hosted by iRobot program manager Paul Balutis at the Khel Creativity Club in Shrewsbury.

Creativity Club Founder Reddy Vatti said the organization teaches students from elementary school to high school about the sciences and robotics, and also offers recreational activities like chess.

Balutis introduced a robot that has become a household name in cleaning tools – the Roomba vacuum.

Although Roomba was created for "dull and dirty missions," Balutis told guests at Sunday’s program that it has a number of components that are also featured in 300-pound robots used by law enforcement and the military for dangerous missions.

"Robots do things people don’t want to," he said.

Balutis, a Shrewsbury resident, explained how some of his company’s robots have been used and gave students insight into new developments such as self-driving utility vehicles and robots with stereovision.

After the 2011 tsunami in Japan, an iRobot robot called Warrior was sent to the devastated area to climb into nuclear reactors and give operators a look at what was going on inside, Balutis said.

Shrewsbury resident Marcel Westdijk looked on as his daughter Natalia handled the control for a robot called FirstLook during Balutis’ presentation.

"She’s been interested in robots since she could talk," Marcel Westdijk said of Natalia, who is a regular visitor at the creativity club’s weekly robotics classes.

Through video presentations, students were able to see how a variety of robots are used in real life – from super-durable machines that can be thrown through windows to help soldiers see what lies inside an unknown building to underwater robots like the Searanger, which searches for water mines.

Sara Mulkeen can be reached at 508-490-7475 or smulkeen@wickedlocal.com.